


Nothing Worse

by justanotherbusyfangirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Gen, Late presentation, Self-Harm, Trans Character, pot smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:43:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22450468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherbusyfangirl/pseuds/justanotherbusyfangirl
Summary: Balthazar is at yet another new school.  There's nothing worse.
Kudos: 6
Collections: Heaven and Hell Bingo, SPN ABO Bingo Round 4





	Nothing Worse

**Author's Note:**

> For my Heaven & Hell Bingo card, the Balthazar/Crowley square, my SPN Genre Bingo card, the High School AU square, my SPN ABO Bingo card, the Free Space, and the Bad Things Bingo card, the Self-Harm square.

There was nothing worse than being the new kid in school.

Well, that’s not true. It’s worse to be the new kid in school _every single month_. 

Balthazar’s eyes stayed trained at the boring tile floor of the main office as his mother spoke to the secretary. He’d been through this a bajilion times by now, his mom dragging him around the country with every new job she got.

She swore this would be the last move, but that wasn’t the first – or even the tenth – time she’d said those words.

A few signatures and printed pieces of paper later, and Balthazar was enrolled in yet another new school. He didn’t even pretend to smile at his mom as she kissed him goodbye on his cheeks, sighing as he was left alone in the office.

“Just sit right there and I’ll get you an aid to give you a little tour, okay?” the secretary asked, a smile on her face. Balthazar almost rolled his eyes, but stopped himself in time. A school was a school, he didn’t really need a tour.

“Until then, bathroom?” Balthazar asked, not waiting for an answer before he stepped out of the office door. A single glance down the hallway helped him locate the restroom, so he headed in that direction.

It was in the middle of a class period, so the bathroom was empty. Balthazar wondered if that meant the school had a low or no tolerance policy on hall passes, or if maybe kids avoided the bathroom right by the main office. Either way, he sighed in relief at the chance to be alone.

He headed into a stall, hanging his shoulder bag on the broken hook on the back of the door. He pressed his forehead against the cool plastic of the door, his mind wandering back to a half-hour earlier when his mom had walked into the office a few steps ahead of him. It was passing period at that point, students had been milling about in the hallway. Balthazar didn’t even need to turn around to know that the conversation he’d overheard was about him.

“New kid?” one voice asked.

A grunt. A long inhale.

“What the fuck?”

Another inhale, this one a little closer. Balthazar didn’t dare turn around.

“Dude’s in high school and hasn’t presented yet? What the hell’s wrong with him?”

Balthazar took that opportunity to head into the office, finding a small bit of sanctuary in the room.

In the bathroom stall, Balthazar’s eyes burned behind closed lids. He would _not_ cry on his first day of school here. He coughed the frog from his throat, rushing to get into his bag. From an inside zipper, he pulled a small blade.

The slices on his inner arm weren’t deep, but they cut just enough to take the heartache away and manifest it into physical pain. Balthazar breathed through the cut before taking some toilet paper and blotting the blood away. Seeing that it was still bleeding a bit, he bunched up a bit and tucked it underneath his shirt and jacket, hoping for a bit of clotting before he had to take his jacket off later.

No need to make his mom question blood dripping down his arm… not again.

Balthazar wiped the blade, putting it in another zipper pocket – the to-be-cleaned pocket – and threw the bag back over his shoulder.

He headed back for the main office, feeling much better than before. As expected, the secretary was waiting there with a student. She smiled as Balthazar came in.

“Ah, there you are. I was just about to send Mr. Crowley out to find you,” she said, teeth sparkling as she spoke.

“’s just Crowley,” the guy mumbled, and Balthazar couldn’t figure out if it was annoyance or affection he heard.

“Yes,” the secretary replied, handing papers to Balthazar. “You’ll find your schedule and a map there, but Mr. Crowley will show you around. You both are expected to report to your third periods, so don’t dawdle too much.”

With a sharp nod of dismissal, she headed for her desk. Balthazar headed back out the door, looking down at the papers in hand. Crowley followed.

“What’s your name?” he asked, his voice gruff but not unfriendly.

Balthazar didn’t want friends.

“Balthazar,” was all he replied with. He turned to walk down the hallway, away from the boy’s bathroom he’d just visited.

Crowley followed. “I’m Crowley. Just Crowley. I may or may not have glanced at your file, so I know you move around a lot. You probably couldn’t give two shits about a stupid school tour.”

Balthazar almost smiled at the deduction, but couldn’t give Crowley the satisfaction.

“So, want to head out to the bleachers and have a smoke? I could use a pick-me-up.”

At that, Balthazar’s step faltered. Usually it took him a couple of days to weed out the potheads, was Crowley really being that easy?

A single glance told Balthazar that Crowley wasn’t some spy sent by the front office trying to test the new kid. Balthazar nodded and followed Crowley down another hallway until they were outside, a hundred paces from the practice fields.

Crowley led him to an inlet in the bleachers, where they couldn’t be seen directly from the building. He flopped to the ground, pulling out a hand-rolled joint and lighter.

Balthazar sat carefully across from Crowley, watching as the guy lit the joint and puffed on it for a minute. When he held it out in offering, Balthazar didn’t hesitate.

The pot was good, unlike the stuff from the last town he’d been in. He’d have to ask Crowley who he bought from.

They sat in silence for a minute before Crowley cleared his throat – not from the smoking, but in preparation to talk. “So,” he started, looking awkward.

Balthazar took back his earlier thought that there was nothing worse than being the new kid in school every single month.

There was nothing worse than being the new kid in school every single month, when you are the only one at your age who hasn’t presented yet. So many fucking questions.

“Just don’t,” Balthazar said before Crowley could continue. “You can’t smell it ‘cause it hasn’t happened.”

Crowley hummed, taking another drag before handing the joint back over. “Sometimes I wish I was in your boat,” he muttered. Balthazar was confused by the statement, and it obviously showed on his face because Crowley sighed.

“I’m, in simple terms, trans. Presented as Alpha, but I know _that’s_ completely wrong.” Crowley looked away, but Balthazar could tell it wasn’t from shame. “I wish it just hadn’t happened at all, I could just… be me. Instead of having my body say I’m one thing when I’m not.”

Balthazar took a breath in, realizing that he hadn’t even caught a whiff of Alpha or Omega from Crowley. 

“Suppressants and a shit ton of drugs, man,” Crowley explained. Balthazar nodded, passing the joint over again. “You and me?” Crowley took the last drag and snuffed the joint out beneath his shoe before continuing. “Maybe we should stick together, eh?”

For the first time in a very long time, Balthazar found himself not resenting his situation. Maybe ending up at this school, with a friend like Crowley, wasn’t such a bad thing.


End file.
